Unless you have been on another planet, you would have heard about nasty, destructive free radicals, caused by everything from sun exposure, smoking, exercise and food preparation to breathing. Enter antioxidants, those special nutrients that are supposed to squelch the little devils and render them impotent. Yet are antioxidants the rescuers they have been promoted to be?

Studies appear to show that these hugely hyped “wonder chemicals” don’t appear to be doing the job of preventing heart disease and dementia, with some evidence even suggesting they might be downright dangerous. In light of this, wouldn’t it be safer and easier just to let nature take its course? Here’s why that is not wise counsel.

Friendly free radicals

The truth is, we need free radicals to survive. We make free radicals the moment we use oxygen to generate energy. This is why we breathe — to obtain that life-sustaining substance, which then travels to our cells. One of the primary roles of the mitochondria is to produce, in conjunction with glucose or fat, a substance called ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the cellular currency of energy. It’s ATP that drives every cellular function in your body. One of the primary causes of fatigue is the inadequate production of this substance.

ATP is manufactured in the battery of your cell called the mitochondrion. Actually, it is generated in that part of the mitochondrion called the electron transport chain, where at the same time a free radical called the superoxide anion is formed. The superoxide anion is derived from oxygen. As you use oxygen to make ATP, this substance loses an electron and becomes a free radical, a promiscuous substance that is hungry to react with other chemicals so it can regain its lost electron. One of the substances it does pair off with is the hydrogen ion, to form hydrogen peroxide. It is hydrogen peroxide that initiates a host of vital cellular activities, which determines whether the cell will live or die.

Ageing is a battle between growth, proliferation and survival on the one hand and what is termed “apoptosis” or cellular suicide on the other. Free radicals are the primary force driving this battle. As you age, you want to preserve healthy cells and encourage growth of those structures your body needs, such as bone cells, heart muscle cells, immune cells and brain cells. What you don’t want to do is lose healthy cells or allow the growth of cancer cells (which you want to get rid of or apoptose).

After all their bad press, it may surprise you to learn that free radicals are as committed to self-preservation as you are. If it does not benefit you to hold on to parts of yourself that are defective, the very same free radicals will help you to rid yourself of those bits that are unseemly and a danger to your survival. Consider the way you make new cells via the constant replicative cycle called “mitosis”. If the DNA of your cells is significantly damaged, this would not be the kind of cell you’d want to preserve. Your cell senses this and aborts cellular division so that repair and maintenance can be initiated. Growth and proliferation cease and those hormones and genes that encourage this are stopped in their tracks. Genes and molecules are then switched on to facilitate the reconstruction process.

One of these molecules is a substance called “nuclear factor kappa B”. When switched on by free radical stress, nuclear factor kappa B sets in motion a host of functions that aid with cell preservation. If these activities are not successful and cellular repair is not favourably executed, then, like a chameleon, nuclear factor kappa B will alter its function and, together with other genes that are turned on, will encourage cells to suicide.

Free radicals also stimulate healthy processes to flourish. Erythropoietin, the substance that transports oxygen around your body, is regulated by free radicals. Cyclic GMP, which allows for erectile function and other important processes, is driven by free radicals. Immune system function, the actions of vital hormones such as vitamin D and insulin and the vascular system that regulates blood pressure are all bolstered by the presence of free radicals. Free radicals also switch on antioxidant defences, which limit their presence. So why do we need protection against them?